8 Ways to Make Your Fridge Greener

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Plenty of shoppers consider the environment when shopping for groceries, opting for products grown without pesticides or patronizing farmers markets, but a lot of people don’t consider their environmental impact after they get those groceries home and into the refrigerator.

Fridges offer great opportunities for people to reduce their usage of energy, water, and toxic chemicals.

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5 Simple Ways to Be More Sustainable Around the House
5 Simple Ways to Be More Sustainable Around the House

Here are a few easy ways to make the fridge a little more eco-friendly.

Refrigerator coils
Refrigerator coils Photo credit LightCooker / Getty Images

Clean the coils

Grab a skinny brush and gently scrub the coils under or behind your fridge. The coils help cool the fridge by releasing heat, which is difficult when they’re covered in a layer of dirt and dust. Clean coils help the fridge work more efficiently, reducing energy for an appliance that uses immense amounts.

Check for leaks

A leak in the door seam can release cold air from the fridge, causing the cooler to work harder and using more energy. A common trick to test the seal is to place a dollar in the door and close it. If the dollar is hard to pull out, the seal is strong, but if it falls out, it’s time to replace that seal.

A fridge full of lots of containers of food
A full fridge is a happy fridge Photo credit BravissimoS / Getty Images

Stock plenty of food

Kirsten Ritchie, director of sustainable design at Gensler Corporation in San Francisco, tells the Vegetarian Times that full fridges use less energy than empty ones, but users should be careful to strike a balance. More food means there is less space for the fridge to cool, but you don’t want it so full that air has trouble circulating.

A fridge full of glass containers
Glass keeps food colder Photo credit millann / Getty Images

Swap plastic for glass

Ritchie also suggests fridge owners opt for glass containers over plastic, since glass keeps food colder, helping the fridge work more efficiently.

A man gets water from an external water dispenser on a fridge
Water dispensers use a lot of energy Photo credit baloon111 / Getty Images

Use ice trays and water pitchers

Ice and water dispensers boost energy usage by 14-20%, so switching to filtered water pitchers and trays of ice can have a huge impact on daily energy costs.

A man cleans his fridge
A man cleans his fridge Photo credit monkeybusinessimages / Getty Images

Clean often

A dirty fridge is a perfect environment for bacteria to thrive. Even a small spill can invite bacteria, which in turn will cause other foods to go bad more quickly. Clean the fridge with eco-friendly products or DIY green cleaners to give your food a fighting chance.

A woman holds a carton of milk in front of an open fridge
Milk shouldn't go on the door Photo credit ziggy1 / Getty Images

Organize properly

Certain areas of the fridge are naturally colder than others. Avoid spoilage and food waste by storing the most vulnerable foods in the coldest areas (often the back and bottom) and the most temperature sensitive ones in warmer spots (the door). If you’re unsure where your fridge runs cold, pick up a fridge thermometer and test different spots.

A confused woman stands in front of an open refrigerator
Sometimes the answer is a new fridge entirely Photo credit AndreyPopov / Getty Images

Buy a new fridge

At a certain point, the greenest option is to ditch the fridge entirely for a newer model. Refrigerators generally last 10 to 17 years, and when they’ve naturally run through that lifetime, they may become an emissions liability. Despite the environmental cost of producing a new fridge, replacing a clunky, old, inefficient model with a shiny, new, eco-friendly option is still a net positive for the environment.

For more ideas on how you can save the planet, visit 1Thing.